The present invention relates to wiring troughs, and specifically to a wiring trough for accessing and securely housing and protecting telecommunications equipment.
Typically, wire troughs are used to house cables routed between various locations, such as routing telecommunication cables between a building entrance protector (BEP) and a building, or between floors of a building. For example, a BEP may provide an interface for cables from a central office of a service provider for distribution throughout the building served by the BEP. Numerous wires and cables typically protrude through the walls of the BEP. To accommodate an uncertain number of cables and wires, troughs are used for retaining and routing the cables and wires.
Enclosures and troughs are often located in accessible areas, such as basements, closets, and offices. Thus, it is desirable to control access to the cables, to prevent acts such as wire tapping, vandalism, and inadvertent damage to the cables. Typical troughs comprise permanent openings on one side of the trough to allow wires and cables to be inserted and removed from the trough. However, this design allows anyone, whether authorized or not, access to the cables. Thus, there is a need for a secure trough for providing access to authorized persons only.
In one embodiment of the invention, a secure cable trough includes a tray, a retaining member, and an adjustable fastening mechanism. The tray includes a first retaining arm. The retaining member includes a second retaining arm. The retaining member is slideably engaged to the tray. The first retaining arm, the second retaining arm, the tray, and the retaining member define a cavity for housing at least one cable. The first retaining arm and the second retaining arm extend toward each other, are offset and overlapping, and create an adjustable gap. The gap provides access to cables and allows cables to be inserted and extracted from the cavity. The first and second retaining arms inhibit cables housed within the cavity from inadvertently falling out of the cavity. The adjustable fastening mechanism slideably engages and locks the retaining member to the tray. The adjustable fastening mechanism provides for the definition of a relative position between the tray and the retaining member. The size of the gap is in response to the relative position between the tray and the retaining member.
In another embodiment of the invention, a method for accessing and securely retaining cables in a cavity defined by a tray and a retaining member includes loosening an adjustable fastening mechanism for slideably engaging the retaining member to the tray. The tray comprises a first retaining arm. The retaining member comprising a second retaining arm. The first retaining arm and the second retaining arm extend toward each other. The first retaining arm and the second retaining arm are offset and overlapping, and create an adjustable gap. The method also includes positioning the retaining member relative to the tray to provide the gap sufficient to allow insertion and extraction of cables into and out of the cavity. The method includes performing at least one of inserting and extracting at least one cable into and from the cavity. The method includes positioning the retaining member relative to the tray to provide the gap sufficient to inhibit cables housed within the cavity from inadvertently falling out of the cavity. The method includes locking the adjustable fastening mechanism to secure cables housed with the cavity.